Forever Falling
by Ginger Conspiracies
Summary: NaruHina. Jiraiya is hospitalised by Tsunade, so Naruto goes on his training mission with a mystery sensei and decides to bring Hinata along. Will his decision mean the start of a brilliant friendship, or maybe the start of something more?
1. Preface

**Preface**

Hinata suddenly awoke to the sound of deep breathing, a heavy weight pressing down on her chest and something tugging on her hair. She froze with fear; not even daring to breathe. _Where am I? _She slowly peeled open one of her pale eyes. _A tent? _She carefully turned her head to see what the source of the breathing was. A puzzled look came over her face. _Naruto-kun? _Sure enough, the breathing was coming from a sleeping Naruto, who had one of his arms draped over her chest and the other wrapped around her neck, with his fingers tangled in her hair. She blushed when she realised that he was so close to her that she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. He sighed contentedly in his sleep. Hinata felt a smile creep across her face as all of the memories of the past three years came flooding back to her. She snuggled further into her sleeping bag, before starting to drift back off to sleep in Naruto's arms. _Only one more day to go…_

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><p><em>AN: Yeah, yeah, I know this is __**really **__short, but I just decided I wanted a preface, and I just couldn't seem to write any more. *__sadface__* Never fear, the rest of the chapters will be much longer. Oh and while I'm here I thought I might explain all of the italics/bold/underline meanings before anyone gets confused:  
>italics: normal thoughtauthor's note/flashback  
><em>**bold: **_normal Kyuubi_ _thought_  
><em><strong>italic bold underline:<strong>_ _flashback Kyuubi_ _thought_  
><em><strong>italic bold: <strong>__flashback thought  
><em>normal text: _normal speech or just the story_

_One last thing. Reviews mean a lot to me. Whether they're constructive, flames or just nice things, they really help me improve my work and give me that little boost to help me keep on going. I really don't care if they're anonymous either (except for flames. my pet peeve is anon flames -.-), just review! Please! *puppy dog face* And if you do review, I'll reply to you in the next chapter's author note and give you a virtual cookie. :3  
>Oh dear, my note is longer than the actual chapter. *cringe*<em>

_**EDIT: I forgot to say, the summary sounds nothing like this, right?** **That's because I'm doing a 'Three Years Earlier' thing next chapter and the story is basically going to describe what happened in those three years right up until this point. Then there will be a sequel starting from here. (Oh yeah, I'm doing a sequel, bitchez) For anyone who figured that out *gives cookie***_

_****_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does, even though I wish I do. *sigh*


	2. Chapter One: The Decision

**THREE YEARS EARLIER...**

Hinata Hyuuga was enjoying her regular afternoon walk through the streets of Konoha. She closed her eyes as she walked, breathing in the crisp scent of fresh flowers wafting from the Yamanaka Flower Shop, and letting the cool breeze gently push her blue bangs out of her eyes. Just as she was about to push the door to go into her favourite café for a quick bite to eat, she heard a shout from behind her.

"Hey Hinata!"

Hinata spun around to see a very out-of-breath blond running towards her, his bright orange jumpsuit immediately pointing him out as Konohagakure's number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja, Naruto Uzumaki.

He stopped in front of her, leaning on the wall of the restaurant next to them, and she couldn't stop a small blush spreading across her face as his piercing blue gaze focused on her. "Um… Hello Naruto-kun. A-are you okay?" she stuttered.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little winded, that's all. Anyway, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute." he panted.

"Of c-course Naruto-kun. What would you like to t-talk about?" Hinata started nervously twiddling her fingers and stared down at her feet. _T-talk to Naruto-kun? W-what if I mess up? I haven't had a r-real conversation with him since the Chuunin exams!_

"Well I suppose you've heard that I'm going to train with Ero-sennin outside of the village for a while, right?" Hinata nodded, so he continued. "Well that baka's in the hospital. Apparently he and Tsunade-baa-chan had a bit of a fight, and let's just say it didn't end too well for him. Obaa-chan told me that he won't be out for a while." He chuckled quietly to himself as an image of the perverted Sannin being knocked out by Tsunade popped into his head.

Did that mean he was staying? He must be, he couldn't train himself now, could he? Hinata had been upset since she'd heard the news he was leaving for so long, and hearing this, she looked back up at him then, hope shining in her eyes.

"W-well it's a shame you can't go then, I-I'm sure you must be-" she began, but Naruto cut her off before she could finish.

"Oh no, I'm still going," he grinned. "But this is what I wanted to ask you about. Obaa-chan said I really need this training, so she's asking one of her old friends to replace old bat thinks that because I won't know this new guy, I might feel a bit weird being alone with them for like three years, so she told me to go find a friend to bring with me."

"Well would you l-like me to help you find someone? Who were you th-thinking of?" Hinata asked, thinking that must be what he wanted; she knew that he wouldn't be asking her.

"Well I was going to ask Sakura-chan, but I knew she'd never say yes to going anywhere with me. Then I thought of Lee-san, but I'm not sure I could put up with his 'youth' speeches for too long." Naruto explained. "Then I remembered how nice you were to me in the Chuunin exams and thought I'd ask you. So how about it? Hinata?"

The poor pale-eyed girl just stood there, frozen in shock. She pinched the back of her hand, trying to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. Still Naruto stood there, a confused look on his whiskered face, waiting for her answer.

"Earth to Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto waved a hand in front of her face, trying to snap her out of whatever trance she was in.

It seemed to work, because she somehow managed to squeak out, "A-Are you sure? D-Don't you want to ask K-Kiba-kun or Shikamaru-kun instead?"

Naruto laughed. "Of course I'm sure! I saw how kick-ass you were in your fight against Neji, and you're really nice too! But I guess I could go ask them if you wan-"

"No!" Hinata almost shouted. She surprised even herself at how loudly she'd said that. "Gomen, I-I didn't mean to shout, Naruto-kun. I-I'd love to go with you, but I'm not sure my father would approve..." Sighing, she looked back down at her feet.

"Really? You'll go with me?" Naruto asked.

"W-Well I would, but like I said, my father would n-never let me be away from my clan for that long." Hinata mumbled.

"Oh don't worry about what he says, if you want to come, you can!" Naruto said. "Tsunade is the Hokage, no matter how powerful your dad is, he has to do what she says, and she told me to pick a friend to go with me, and I chose you. It's an order from the Hokage, so he can't do anything about it!"

"R-Really?" she gasped.

"Really! Believe it!" Naruto grinned. "Well listen, Obaa-chan said to take whoever I found to her office as soon as I can, so let's go!"

He started to rush off, but turned back around when he realised Hinata wasn't with him. Impatiently he ran back to her and grabbed her hand to drag her along. "Come on Hinata! We don't have all day you know!"

Hinata slowly looked down at her hand in his, and it was too much for her to handle. Before Naruto could say any more, she passed out.

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><p><strong><span>AN: So, w_hat do you think? Did Naruto and Hinata make the right decisions? Tell me any of your opinions on this chapter and what you want to happen next in a review._**

**_Translations:_**

**_Konoha/Konohagakure: Village Hidden in the Leaves, Hidden Leaf Village. Naruto and Hinata's home village._**

**_-kun/-san/-chan: Friendly suffixes._**

**_Chuunin: Middle ninja rank. Naruto and Hinata are both Genin, the lowest ninja rank other than Academy Students._**

**_Ero-Sennin: Naruto's nickname for Jiraiya in the Japanese version of the anime. In the English dub, he calls him 'Pervy Sage' instead._**

**_Baka: Idiot_**

**_-baa-chan: Suffix for an old lady. Naruto adds this to Tsunade's name to get on her nerves, she hates being called old._**

**_Obaa-chan: Term for an old lady. Same reason as above._**

**_Gomen: Sorry._**

**_Hokage: Leader of Konoha, currently Tsunade._**

**_Sannin: Three legendary ninja from Konoha: Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru_**

**_Next chapter up soon! :D_**

****Update: The next chapter is probably going to be about twice the length of this, maybe more, so please don't give up on me for my short chapters! ^_^


	3. Chapter Two: Yeah, right!

_A/N: Sorry for the wait guys, I've had some serious huge-ass homeworks and stuff for the past few weeks, and I've been working on some other fanfics and even a fanflash aswell. As a reward for your patience, here's two chapters instead of one, YAY :D *cue cheers*_

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><p>"Dream on, grandma."<p>

"Oh come on Naomi-chan! It's a great opportunity for you!"

"I don't think teaching a couple of brats for three years is a 'great opportunity', I think the word you're looking for is _torture._"

Tsunade sweatdropped. She had always known Naomi was stubborn, but not _this_ stubborn. Their argument had been going on like this for almost half an hour, and Tsunade was beginning to lose her patience. She slammed a fist down on her desk in annoyance.

"Listen, Naomi. You are seriously testing me now. I've done countless things for you in the past, and I've never expected anything back. Now I ask you to do this one small favour, and you sit there looking at me like I've just tried to send you on an S-rank mission."

"Small favour my ass!" Naomi scoffed. "To be honest, I'd rather be sent on a S-rank mission than train some annoying little squirts that I don't even know! Yeah Tsunade, I know I owe you one. I'm not sure I'd actually be alive and sitting here without you to be honest. But this is way too much to ask! I mean, I've never even thought about teaching, and I'm way too young to be called 'sensei' yet."

Tsunade shoved Naomi's feet off the pile of paperwork on her desk, earning herself an annoyed grunt from the blue haired girl, and began sifting through it, obviously looking for something. After a few minutes of searching, she pulled out two thin, brown folders, and tossed them at Naomi.

She caught them and looked back at Tsunade. "What are these? Please don't tell me they're some sort of contract I signed when I was drunk saying 'I must obey Tsunade'."

"No, don't worry," she laughed. "It's just some information on your new students. So open them up and have a quick read, you'll be surprised at what you find."

"What could I be surprised about? They're just a couple of stupid genin, they're all the same nowadays..."

Her voice trailed off and her one visible eye widened when she processed who these two were.

"No freaking _way_!"

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><p>Hinata's eyes flickered open and she groaned in pain, snapping them shut again.<em> I must have hit my head pretty hard when I fainted earlier, it hurts so bad!<em>

"Oh Hinata, you're finally awake," a voice said, sounding faintly relieved.

"Really? Hinata! Can you hear me?" another, more excited voice said.

She gave a small nod and winced again. "Where am I?"

"You're in Tsunade's office, Hinata," the second voice replied. "I had to carry you here after you passed out, or Grandma over there would've killed me for being late."

She heard a dull thud and slowly opened her eyes again and sat up to see Naruto sat next to her, rubbing his head and glaring at Tsunade standing in front of him, with her hands on her hips.

"Hey, what was that for?" he yelled.

"You called me grandma, and I told you not to call me that, you little runt!" she shouted back.

"You're still old though..." he pouted.

"Shut up Naruto, or you'll feel a real punch pretty soon," Tsunade growled. "Anyway, Hinata, how are you feeling? You had a pretty nasty cut on the back of your head when Naruto brought you here, but it's healed up quite nicely now."

Hinata was a little bit surprised by the Hokage's sudden mood swing, but managed to stutter out a quiet 'I'm fine' nonetheless.

"Great! That means we can get going on our mission soon!" Naruto grinned, practically glowing with excitement.

"Not so fast, Naruto," Tsunade interrupted. "Before you even think about going anywhere, you have a lot of things to do to prepare. You are going to be gone for at least two years, remember?."

Hinata almost fainted again when she remembered those few details. She still couldn't believe that Naruto chose to take her instead of any of his other friends, especially when he knew they would be training closely together for years.

"I know, I know, I'm just excited to get out of this place, and get on with the training. I just wanna get stronger, and if having a new sensei and going on this mission is going to help me do that, I can't wait!" Naruto said. "And I bet Hinata wants to get stronger too, so the sooner we get on with this, the better."

"Right then. Hinata, I think it'd be best if you go and get your father's permission first, because it'd save me a lot of paperwork if he wasn't forced to agree with the mission. After that, you and Naruto go and say goodbye to your teammates, pack your clothes and supplies and meet me and your sensei at the main gates in two hours. Here is your mission scroll, show this to Hiashi and bring it with you to the gates," Tsunade said, holding out a scroll with the letter 'B' on, which Hinata took from her and put in her pouch. "Finally, for your own safety, don't be late. Your sensei's temper is nearly as infamous as mine, and she is very impatient." she added, laughing.

"I understand, Hokage-sama," Hinata said as she shakily stood up.

"Got it grandma," Naruto nodded. "Come on then Hinata, lets get over to your place!"

Tsunade could barely hold in her laughter at the interesting shade of red the young girl's face had turned when she thought of some other, more innapropriate meanings to that sentence...

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><p><em>AN: Sorry for the little innuendo there, my dirty mind just couldn't help it :')_

_Anyway, what did you guys think of that chapter? I personally think I could've done better, but it was a rush because I've completely forgotten about this for weeks, and then felt guilty for not updating :(  
>The next chapter is going to be up in a few hours, so don't log off just yet! <em>

_Naomi is my OC, and when you get to know her, use her in your own fics if you wish, just please mention somewhere that I created her, thanks :}_

_Yeah, I know this chapter was quite short (again), but this and the next chapter were originally one, so I split it in two because it just seemed right :3_

_Finally, you probably know by now that I like reviews. I'm not a review whore or someone who can't cope with some criticism, but I like them nonetheless. So please review, positive or negative, I don't care, I'd just like to make my writing better :D_

**_NEXT CHAPTER:_**

**_Naruto and Hinata say their goodbyes, and they finally meet Naomi. What will they think of each other? What does she have in store for them over the next few years? Well, you'll have to wait and see, mwahahaha :)_**


	4. Chapter Three: Goodbye, Konoha

_A/N: Well, uh, sorry about the huge wait. Blame my dodgy laptop. Supposed to be top of the range thing, but it broke less than a month after I bought it. This is getting posted in school, aren't I so dedicated. *sarcasm*_

_I've had zero motivation for this chapter and was seriously thinking of cutting it out, but it's kinda necessary. It's been a total bitch to write this one though. Hopefully once I get into the main plotline, I might pick up the pace a bit :)_

_Extra long chappy because of the extra long wait! :D_

_Also, go check out Paws on . I really enjoy writing that one much more, it's just fun to do :3_

_I clearly don't own Naruto. If I did, the Akatsuki would still be around, Tobi would be dead, and Orochimaru would be wearing a fluffy pink tutu because he is a gay pedophile who likes little boys._

_Enjoy, mes amis._

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><p>Walking through the market in Konoha, Naruto was quietly humming to himself, Hinata by his side. He was hoping to fill the silence that had fallen between them, but soon realised that it was a comfortable silence, so stopped and decided to think about the coming mission.<p>

He thought of mainly two things: what his teacher would be like, and what new cool jutsus they could teach him. If they were a friend of the Legendary Sannin, they must know some really good tricks, and if Naruto was in any luck, they could teach him some of the best. His current dream was to be able to show off and kick some ANBU ass with them when he got back. Heh, teme is gonna be so jealous when he finds out about the mission, he thought. I'll be way stronger than he is once I'm back! (A/N: Yeah, in this fic Duck-Butt doesn't leave. Or does he? Mwahaha)

Hinata, however, was trying, and failing, to not think about the mission. Whenever she thought about it, she would only get nervous butterflies from ideas she had about the time she would be spending with Naruto, and how her father was going to take the news of her departure. If her gut feeling was correct, he wasn't going to take it as well as she could hope.

Naruto pulled her out of her thoughts with a question. "So Hinata, what do you think our sensei is going to be like?"

"I-I'm not sure Naruto-kun, but I think that they will be very strong and a b-brilliant teacher," she replied. "They m-must be if Tsunade-sama trusts them with training us for so long."

"Yeah, I guess so. I just can't help wondering though!" he said. "I mean, it's such a mystery! It's kinda like waiting for Kakashi-sensei after we got out of the Academy."

"I know what y-you mean Naruto-kun. I had the same th-thing with Kurenai-sensei," Hinata giggled.

They continued to walk in silence for a while longer, until Hinata remembered something she had noticed earlier and reached into her pouch to pull out the mission scroll.

"Naruto-kun?" she said.

"Yes?"

"I-I don't mean to be rude, but why is our m-mission B-ranked? It is only a training mission after all."

Naruto frowned and remembered a conversation he had with Tsunade while Hinata was knocked out.

_FLASHBACK_

_"Come in!" _

_Naruto walked into the Hokage's office and kicked the door shut behind him. In his arms lay an unconcious Hinata, leaking a small amount of blood from the back of her head onto his shirt. He continued over to Tsunade's desk and sat Hinata down onto one of the chairs, and took the other for himself._

_"Oh my God Naruto! What happened!"_

_"Hey grandma." he said, stretching his legs. "Nothing really important happened, I just asked Hinata to come on the mission with me and we were about to come here, but she just kinda spaced out and fainted before we got anywhere. It was pretty weird, if you ask me."_

_Tsunade was healing the gash on the back of Hinata's head, a small smile on her face. She was pleased that Naruto had the sense to take Hinata and not somebody he would eventually regret, and was happy for the girl. She would finally have a chance to gain Naruto's attention. The Hokage finished up and focused back on the knuckleheaded ninja._

_"That is quite strange. Did anything else happen to make her faint?" she asked. "She doesn't normally pass out at something so small."_

_"Not really. I just grabbed her hand and was gonna take her here, but then she just fell over, out cold." Naruto shrugged._

_He frowned at the Sannin when she started laughing quietly to herself._

_"What's so funny grandma?" he asked._

_"You, Naruto! I can't believe- Oh never mind." She shook her head lightly before composing herself. "Anyway, it's actually quite convenient that Hinata is unconcious. I've got some things I'd like to talk to you about which I think you'd rather her not know."_

_Naruto looked puzzled. "What do you mean? It can't be that bad."_

_"I'd like to explain why your mission is B-ranked."_

_The hyperactive genin was about to start ranting on about how awesome it was to be going on a B-ranked mission, but Tsunade raised her hand to make him stop._

_"It's so highly ranked because of the many possible dangers in this mission." She raised a finger to make a point. "The first and probably most deadly being the Akatsuki, who seem to be determined to get you." She raised another. "The second being the length of time you're going to be out of the village. You will have hardly any contact to us, and will only be protected by your sensei and each other. Even though I would trust your sensei with my life, she can be quite clumsy sometimes." She raised a final finger. "Now this is the part I know you don't want Hinata to hear. The fox. There is a chance that at some point you could accidentally release the fox, which could put you and Hinata in a very sticky situation."_

_"I'd never do that!" Naruto yelled. He lowered his voice slightly when he remembered that Hinata might wake up. "I would never put my friends in danger!"_

_"Well that's good to hear, but you need to remember this. You cannot completely control the Kyuubi, both you and I know that. Even using a little of it's chakra is noticable to any normal person, never mind one with the Byakugan, so you must either control your anger, or tell Hinata the truth." Tsunade said._

_"How could I tell her? She'd hate me and treat me like the rest of the people who know! She'll treat me like I'm a monster! I'm not going to tell her, ever." he cried._

_"One day, you'll have no choice. And anyway, I highly doubt she'd be so closed-minded about you, trust me on that." she said. "It isn't my business to force you to tell her, it's your choice. So if you aren't going to tell her now, you'll have to make up a believable lie about why the mission is so highly ranked, because she's a very perceptive girl, and you don't want to be unprepared for any awkward questions now, do you?"_

_Naruto was about to reply, but was interrupted by a quiet groan from Hinata. Both of the blondes in the room turned to look at her, and saw her eyelids fluttering open._

_"Oh Hinata, you're finally awake." Tsunade said._

_END FLASHBACK_

"N-Naruto-kun? Are you a-alright?"

Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. What was your question again?"

"I-I was just w-wondering why i-it's a B-ranked mission, t-that's all." Hinata said.

Damn it! Stupid grandma was right! And I haven't got a good lie yet! Crap! I guess I'll just have to say something and hope she'll believe me... Naruto thought.

"B-rank? Uh, well I guess it's because we're outside the village for so long. I mean, we could get into a load of trouble for being away from anyone we know, couldn't we?" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly while he waited for her answer.

Hinata thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "T-That sounds about right."

Well that was close... Naruto mentally sighed with relief.

They continued in silence for a little longer, until Hinata pointed out that they were nearly at her house. Naruto had never been this far into the richer areas of town, so was completely in awe at the size of some of the buildings. Suddenly, Hinata stopped and turned towards one of the biggest houses he had ever seen.

"This is your house?" he yelled. His mouth was literally hanging open in shock, something which Hinata giggled at.

"Y-Yes. F-Follow me, I'll take you to my father's office." she said. "It's n-not too far."

They both walked up the stone path towards the front doors, where they took off their shoes and entered the giant Hyūga complex. Hinata guided Naruto through a maze of corridors, eventually stopping outside a screen door. If this 'isn't too far', then how huge is this place? Hinata knocked gently and waited for the reply.

"Enter!" a male voice boomed from inside.

"Should I come too?" Naruto mouthed. Hinata nodded in reply, shedidn't want to be alone with her father normally, but definitely not when talking about something such as this.

She slowly slid open the door and the both of them went inside. In the far end of the room sat Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyūga. He looked up from a pile of paperwork to greet his guests, but his expression set into a cold glare when he realised that it was only Hinata, and she had brought the Kyuubi kid into their home along with her.

"What do you two want?" he spat. "I'm busy, I don't need to be bothered by the likes of you."

Naruto opened his mouth to tell the man not to talk to them like that, but Hinata decided to make herself known.

"I-I'm sorry F-Father, b-but we're here on H-Hokage-sama's orders t-to discuss a-a mission w-we've been g-given."

Naruto looked over to her, and noticed that her stutter was considerably worse, and she looked slightly nervous about something. Even to someone as oblivious as him, there was obviously a problem between the two. He made a mental note to ask her about it sometime.

"Hokage's orders? Very well, sit down and tell me what I need to know. I'll speak to the council afterwards about the matter." Reluctantly, he gestured to the two cushions in front of him for the pair to sit on.

Hinata and Naruto took up his offer and began to tell him the details that they knew. Naruto couldn't help but smirk slightly at the mixed emotions the usually stoic Hyūga clan leader was showing. Once they had finished their explanation, they handed over the mission scroll, which Hiashi quickly skimmed through before handing it back. He composed himself and set his glare back on Hinata.

"Hinata, I do not even have to speak to the council about this mission. I know they would agree with me when I say that I fobid you to go. For one, you are the heiress, you have duties with the clan and you cannot be away for so long. Secondly, neither of you even know this person who will be accompanying you, so how you would even feel safe being under their care is beyond me. Also, I think that the training you recieve here is far better, especially since this mystery person cannot teach you in Jyuuken. Finally, I will not allow you to go anywhere with someone like him." The last sentence was aimed straight at Naruto, with a look to kill. His glare wasn''t returned, however. Instead, Naruto sat there with a smirk on his face, which surprised both of the other occupants of the room. Most other people would at least flinch under his gaze.

"Actually, you and your council have no say in this." he said. "I know the Hokage can't get involved with all your clan crap, but we're her ninja, and if she gives us a mission and we both accept, it's settled, no matter if you disagree. We're only here to let you know about it, not for permission."

"What! Of course I have a say in this, this is my own daughter-"

"No, you don't. And from the rumours I've heard about the way you treat her, it doesn't seem like you think she's your daughter." The smirk fell from his face, and was replaced by a look of disgust. "We're leaving in an hour or so, the only thing we have to do now is get our stuff and meet our sensei. If you actually want to, say goodbye to her. If not, well, I have nothing to say to you. Hinata, I'll see you outside." With that, he stood up and left the room, leaving a furious Hiashi behind him.

Hinata, meanwhile, was sat completely still, too shocked to even move. Not just anybody, but Naruto, had just stuck up for her in front of her father. Her father. Nobody had ever done anything like that for her, and she didn't really know what to do. Luckily for her, Hiashi spoke.

"Hinata. Even though I don't agree with the way that he phrased it, I understand that this is your decision. I'm warning you though, if you return without any significant progress, your position as heiress will be passed on to Hanabi, and you will recieve the caged bird seal. Also, I hope you don't think the same way as he does about the way I treat you. I only do what I think is the best for you, I don't mean to hurt you. Someday I'll tell you everything. For now, you need to go and pack, I doubt Tsunade-sama would appreciate you being late." he sighed.

"R-Really? Thank you Father!" she smiled. "You will not r-regret this. I-I'll be much stronger, I p-promise!"

"Yes. Now go, before the council hear about this. I hope you understand how much trouble I'm going to have now." he replied. "Goodbye, Hinata. Make our clan proud."

* * *

><p>"So he really apologised? I thought that bastard was 'above' apologies." Naruto said. "No offence."<p>

"N-None taken, Naruto-kun." Hinata giggled. "But y-yes, he apologised, i-in his own way."

"Alright then. Anyway, let's go find everyone to say bye. We can go get my stuff last, it's not really that far, and I don't have much to pack."

"O-Okay."

The pair of genin were currently heading towards the training grounds. Both of their teams normally trained at that time, so they thought it would be best to try there first. Soon they heard a few screams, barking and the sound of metal clanging against metal. As they approached the source of the sounds, they saw both of their teams training together. Sakura was the first to see them, and started waving.

"Hey guys! Tsunade-sama told us to train together until you got here. What's up?" she yelled.

Naruto and Hinata jogged the rest of the way to their teammates, who all stopped what they were doing to look at them.

The rest of Team 7 and 8 looked over then, and with the exception of Sasuke and Shino, started waving too, and they all started walking towards them.

"Oh hey, I thought we'd see you here!" Naruto grinned. "Well I think Granny Tsunade told you guys to get together because there's something we need to talk to you about."

"Oh my God, you're with Hinata? That's so cute!" Sakura squealed.

"What? No! God, Sakura, let me finish!" he yelled. He didn't notice Kiba's snickering or Hinata's massive blush, so continued. "What we need to tell you is that we've been given a mission."

"What's so important about some stupid mission that you need us all together for, dobe?" Sasuke asked.

"This mission is a training mission for only me and Hinata. It was originally gonna just be me and Pervy Sage, but he got beat up, so couldn't do it. Instead, we've got some random person that Grandma knows, and I had to pick someone to take with me, and I chose Hinata." Naruto explained.

"Why didn't you pick one of us?" Sakura demanded.

"I have my reasons." Naruto smirked, and Hinata smiled, remembering his earlier explanation. "Anyway, the main thing is how long we're gonna be gone. This mission is going to take a lot of time."

"How much is a lot of time?" Shino inquired.

"A-About three years, Shino-kun." Hinata answered.

"WHAT?" The entire group, including Kakashi and Kurenai, were completely shocked. The longest mission they'd ever heard of was a few months, never mind years.

"Impossible, nobody would send and idiot like you on a mission like that." Sasuke hissed.

"Heh, you're just jealous that you didn't get chosen, teme." Naruto teased. "Here's your proof." He tossed the scroll over to Sasuke, who caught it and hurriedly read through it, the rest of the ninja reading it over his shoulder.

"Looks official to me." Kakashi said. "When are you leaving?"

"In about half an hour, Kakashi-sensei." Hinata said.

"I can't believe you're gonna be gone for so long, Hinata!" Kurenai said. "Naruto, do you need Hinata until you have to leave?"

"Uh, not really. I've only gotta go get my stuff, then we can go, why?"

"Oh, nothing really. Hinata, come with me, we have things to talk about! I promise I'll bring her to the gates on time!" Kurenai grabbed Hinata by her arm, and dragged her back off towards the village, leaving a group of very confused ninja behind.

"Okay then..." Naruto said. "Uh, I don't know what just happened. You got any idea Kiba?"

"Nope. I haven't seen Kurenai-sensei act like this since she got drunk at Kakashi-sensei's birthday party last year." Everyone who was there shuddered at the memory.

"Weird. Okay guys, I guess I'd better go grab my stuff and head off." Naruto sighed.

"We'll come and meet you at the gates to say goodbye, alright, Naruto?" Sakura said.

"Sure. I'll see you guys there then." he smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>(Half an hour later, the main gates)<strong>

"Where the hell are these goddamn kids?" Naomi moaned. "We've been waiting like ten minutes!"

"They're supposed to arrive about now, don't be impatient. It's your fault that you wanted to get here early." Tsunade said.

"Whatever. I just wanna get home. I miss my own bed. The one in the hotel you told me to stay in was worse than sleeping on the ground." she muttered.

"If it was so bad, why didn't you sleep on the floor instead?"

The younger ninja huffed and turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. "Shut up, Grandma!"

A poof of smoke appeared in front of the two women, and Kurenai stepped out of it, interrupting Tsunade's reply.

"Hello Kurenai, where's everyone else?" Tsunade greeted.

Another poof of smoke appeared next to her, and this time it was Kakashi who had arrived.

"Naruto is just around the corner with everyone but Hinata. She's just straight ahead." He pointed down the street in front of them, and as he said, Hinata was walking along it, a few metres away.

"Kakashi? What are you doing here? I've never seen you on time, never mind early!" Tsunade exclaimed. "Are you sick or something?"

"No, I just wouldn't miss saying goodbye to one of my students for anything." Kakashi eye-smiled. "Plus, I ran out of reading material."

Tsunade and Kurenai sweatdropped, while Naomi just stood where she was, looking confused.

"What do you mean, 'reading material'?" she asked.

Before anyone could answer, the group of genin had just arrived at the gates.

"By reading material, he means his Icha Icha Paradise books, or porn as everyone else calls it." Naruto deadpanned.

"It's actually great literature, and it was written by one of the legendary Sannin." Kakashi stated.

"Exactly. Everyone knows that he's the only pervert around here bigger than you and Ebisu." Naruto snickered. All of the genin that actually showed their emotions either laughed or smirked. "Anyway, where's our sensei? I don't see anyone."

"I'm right over here!" Naomi grinned.

Everyone's eyes drifted over to the waving woman. They looked her over for a few seconds, taking in her unusual appearance. The most obvious thing about her was her hair. It came down to her lower back with a piece of it hanging over the right side of her face, bright turquoise in colour. The piece over her eye was held in place by a black beanie she had on her head, and her outfit was pretty normal for a ninja; fishnet shorts under a black miniskirt, black crop top, and bandages from her elbows to her wrists. Naruto thought for a moment that she could actually be their sensei, but then noticed the lack of any village symbol, and completely ignored the idea.

"Sorry lady, I think you're mistaken. You can't be a sensei if you aren't a ninja." he said.

Tsunade snorted with laughter, and Naomi's smile slipped off her face to be replaced by a dark glare.

"Not a ninja? I'm more ninja than you'll ever be, brat. And what makes you think I'm not a ninja anyway?" she growled.

"Yeah right, you're looking at the future Hokage! And you can't be a ninja if you don't belong to one of the villages." he yelled.

"Well, Mister 'Future Hokage', could a normal person do this?"

Naomi suddenly disappeared in a flash of black and blue.

"What the hell? Where did she go?" Naruto was spinning around, looking for the mysterious girl.

"Boo."

Naruto almost jumped out of his skin when he realised that Naomi was standing right behind him, a kunai pressed to his back. The rest of the genin were equally shocked. It looked to them as if she had just appeared out of nowhere.

"Shit! How did you do that?" he shouted.

"That, Naruto Uzumaki, is me proving that I'm the person who's going to be training you and Hinata over there." she smirked, putting the kunai back into her pouch and walking forward to stand next to Tsunade again. Said Hokage was smiling at the teenager's antics. She knew she was only teasing him, but it was still fun to watch all of the confused and surprised faces of the kids. "My name is Naomi Kotzuka, an equivalent to an elite jonin and currently your sensei. You're going to be staying with me in my house outside the village for the next two years or so, so if I were you, I wouldn't piss me off before we even know each other."

"Uh, well sorry for not believing you in the first place, Naomi-sensei." Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I guess I just didn't expect someone like you to be a sensei, that's all."

" Please don't call me 'Naomi-sensei', it makes me feel old." she laughed. "And why didn't you expect me to be a teacher? Am I too awesome and hot to be one?" Everyone except Naruto had to hold in a laugh at the remark. He opened his mouth to reply.

"Please, just save the sarcasm for the journey." Tsunade sighed. "You've got a three-day trip ahead of you, so you'll have plenty of time to insult each other then." Naruto grinned evilly at his sensei.

Said blue-haired ninja grumbled to herself. "Oh goody, a three-day argument with some puny Yondaime replica."

"Anyway, since the journey is going to take so long, it would be better if you three could get going as soon as possible." she pointed at Naruto and Hinata. "You two should say your final goodbyes now. Remember, you won't have any contact with them except for very rare censored letters."

"Hokage-sama, why will the letters have to be censored?" Sakura asked.

"Because, Sakura, there are a few groups of people out there that could get these three into some serious trouble should they find out where they are or what they're doing." Tsunade explained, referring to the Akatsuki. "Okay, Naomi, you grab their bags and seal them into some scrolls..." She continued her list of orders for her, while Naruto and Hinata walked over to their teammates and sensei.

"So..." Naruto awkwardly began. "I'm not too sure how to say this- mmph!"

He was cut off by a huge hug from a tearful Sakura. "Oh my God Naruto, I don't care how annoying and perverted you are, I'm going to miss you, you blonde idiot!" she laughed. "Why do you have to go for so long? It really won't be the same around here without you."

"For once, I have to agree with Sakura, dobe." When everyone gave him a strange look, Sasuke quickly corrected himself. "Not that I'd miss you, God no. I mean that it won't be the same without you."

"Aww, you don't need to lie about missing me teme, we know you love me really." Naruto smirked. He got a Sharingan-fuelled glare in return, which quickly made the smirk disappear.

Hinata meanwhile was talking to Kurenai and Kiba, not really Shino, he just stood there looking stoic as usual.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Hinata-chan!" Kurenai cried. "I need another girl on my squad!" She leaped over and wrapped the poor Hyūga girl in a bone-crushing hug.

Hinata laughed, gently hugging her sensei back. "D-Don't worry Kurenai-sensei, I-I'll be back sooner than y-you think."

"You better be!" Kiba said. "It'll be so weird with just us four around." Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Th-Thank you K-Kiba-kun, but I'm sure you'll be okay w-with just you guys." Hinata said. She looked over her shoulder when she heard a shout coming from Naruto's direction, and everyone sweatdropped when they saw that Naruto was literally getting dragged away from his team by Tsunade and Naomi. Hinata sighed and walked over to them outside the open gates once Kurenai had released her. Team 7 and 8 followed behind her, quite a few of them slightly teary-eyed.

"Guess this is goodbye then, huh?" Naruto smiled sadly.

"Listen kid, I'm pretty bad in these mushy conversations, so I think I'll just walk ahead a bit." Naomi chuckled. "I'll walk pretty slow so you two can catch up."

"I'll follow you, I have a few more things to tell you." Tsunade said as the two started walking down the dirt path.

"To be honest, I'm pretty bad too, so I think it'd be best if we get going now." Naruto said. "You got anything left to say Hinata?"

She shook her head slightly and smiled softly at the group of ninja in front of her. "I've s-said everything I need to, N-Naruto-kun. G-Goodbye, I'll see you soon."

"Let's go then." Naruto turned around and began to walk down the path, Hinata following close behind him.

"Bye Naruto, bye Hinata!" Sakura yelled. "Bring me something cool back!"

"See ya dobe." Sasuke said, seemingly uncaring, but everyone knew he'd miss his favourite punching-bag.

"Remember what I told you Hinata!" Kurenai waved. Hinata blushed like crazy and looked down at her feet in embarrassment. Naruto added this to his mental list of 'Things to Ask Hinata About'.

"Farewell Hinata, Naruto." Shino said.

"Check ya later dead last, bye Hinata!" Kiba shouted with Akamaru barking along with him.

"Shut up dog breath! For that, you're gonna be the first to get their ass kicked when I get back!" Naruto retorted over his shoulder.

"Use your time wisely Naruto, I hope you can prove to be a challenge for me when you return." Kakashi waved. "I'll see you soon!"

"Bye guys!" The pair laughed.

And with that, the group turned around the corner into the forest, knowing they wouldn't be seeing their friends for the next few years. Hinata seemed to be feeling it most, so Naruto nudged her gently with his elbow with a gentle smile to get her attention.

"Hey, at least we're not alone. We've still got each other, remember?" he said.

"R-Right." Hinata couldn't help but smile back; his smiles were contagious.

Both of them had the same thought as they jumped ahead to catch up with the two women up in front: _Goodbye, Konoha..._

* * *

><p><em>AN: FINALLY, I'VE UPDATED!_

_Stupid computers T_T_

_You loving the slight fluff in the last few sentences? Trust me, there will be lots and lots more fluffiness and cuteness later on. YAY GO NARUHINA FLUFF ^.^_

_I'm hoping to update between 2-3 more weeks, please be patient while I sort out all the problems I've been having with this. Paws will probably be done in another few days to a week, go look._

_I thought I'd mention there's a poll on my page for anyone who's reading Paws. Go vote if you are. Also, I haz a deviantART. I've posted a few sketches and stuff, and for anyone who wants to know how I imagine Naomi to look (sort of), I'm gonna post a drawing I did of her the other day up later on when my scanner starts working again. The link is purpleneko98 . deviantart . com (no spaces)_

_Anyway, all done now. Better get on with the next Paws chapter before this shitty computer breaks again._

_Adios, amigos ;)_


	5. Chapter Four: Awkward Introductions

_A/N: Yesterday was quite eventful._

_Me and my friends had an Otaku's Day Out._

_And it was awesome._

_We basically just went around all the major manga stores in the city, and I ended up coming home with six volumes of Death Note, one volume of D. Gray-Man, and a new bag. I was totally gutted when there wasn't any Naruto plushies around anywhere, I need an Akamaru one. Now. _

_Tried to correct any mistakes and plotholes today, if I've missed any, don't hesitate to tell me. I have like OCD, so I'd rage if I found a mistake in here some other day. I really need a new beta..._

_I can't believe it... I don't actually own Naruto! TT 3TT_

_BUUT I do own Naomi Kotzuka, and any other things to do with her, so it's all okay now ^.^_

_Enjoy, mis amigos._

* * *

><p><strong>(Three days later)<strong>

"Hurry your shit up, midgets!"

"Hey! I'm not that short! You're not too tall yourself!"

"For your information, 5' 6" is above average height for a woman of my age in this country."

"A-Ano, how old are you N-Naomi-sensei? W-We haven't b-been told much about you yet."

"Really? I thought Tsunade would have told you at least that. I, my young companions, am nineteen years of age. Oh and Hinata, I've already told you. Please stop calling me sensei, just Naomi or Naomi-chan will do. Even call me nee-chan if you want, I don't care as long as it isn't sensei or something to do with being old. Whatever you feel more comfortable with."

A group of three mismatched shinobi were walking through the forested borders of the Land of Fire. You guessed it, these ninja were Naruto, Hinata and Naomi. They had been travelling for the past five hours, and the younger two were starting to lag behind from tiredness and hunger. Tsunade was completely right when she had mentioned Naomi was impatient, so she was walking faster to get to their destination as soon as possible. She was equivalent to elite Jonin level, so she could go on for at least another few hours without a break, and the two teenagers were irritating her because they couldn't. Naruto usually had a crazy stamina, but all of the emotions from leaving his friends behind seemed to have drained him of his energy. If that didn't take all of it, Tsunade's parting hug literally squeezed out what was left of it.

_FLASHBACK_

_"I'm going to miss you so much, Naruto-kun!"_

_Tsunade dived over to a terrified Naruto and smothered him with her love. He started flailing his arms and yelling to get her to release him from her death grip, but soon stopped from lack of oxygen because he had been smothered by the female Hokage's large chest as well as her love._

_Naomi sighed. "Can you please release him? I think he's going blue, and I'm not really into training dead bodies. It's just not my thing."_

_Tsunade quickly let him go, much to the relief of the smaller blonde. He sucked in a huge breath of precious air before glaring at his attacker._

_"I can take a hug, but did you really have to nearly kill me?" he said._

_"I'm sorry, I'm just going to miss you so much! The village will be so boring and quiet without you there. I might actually have time to do some of that stupid paperwork now." she laughed as she turned to Hinata. Said bluenette (A/N: I'm sorry, I just had to include that word. It's just awesome.) had the sense to look terrified and try and hide before the sobbing village leader attacked her for a huge hug as well. Tsunade eventually grabbed her, but with less force than Naruto's hug._

_"I'm sure everyone's going to miss you too Hinata." she smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind Hinata's ear. Tsunade leaned forward and whispered quiet enough that only those two could hear her. "When Naruto brought you to my office earlier, I couldn't be happier. You were the best choice for the mission that he could have ever made; for both of you. We all know how you feel for him," Hinata blushed profusely at that statement. "And I think that he might just end up feeling the same way for you eventually. It just takes a little while longer than anyone else for things like that to get through that thick skull of his, so be patient." She let Hinata go from her arms with a reassuring smile on her tear-stained face._

_Hinata returned her smile with one of her own and gently gave the Hokage a quick hug back. "Th-Thank you, Hokage-sama. I'll see you in a few years. P-Please look after my team and make sure they stay safe."_

_"Only if you do the same for my Naruto-kun." Tsunade said._

_"I promise."_

_"Hey! Quit with the sentimentals, ladies! We've got somewhere to be, you know. Hurry your ass up Hinata, you don't want to be talking to some old bat like her anyway." Naomi yelled._

_Naruto winced as he saw Tsunade's famous temper begin to surface. "You reeaaallly shouldn't have said that you know."_

_"Whatever. You seem to be forgetting that I've known her much longer than you, and suffered her wrath many more times. Do you really think I don't have ways to escape?" Naomi scoffed._

_"Oh yeah, I forgot." Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "But you have to teach me some. I don't think I can handle any more of her mood swings."_

_"I heard that, brat!"_

_"Oh, look at the time, I think we've been stopped here long enough." Naomi panicked. "Off we go kiddies!" She grabbed Naruto and Hinata, who both 'eeped' in surprise, and jumped into the trees away from the fuming woman._

_"See you soon grandma!" Naruto yelled from a distance._

_His shout brought Tsunade back from her rage, and her feelings of sadness and loss came back to her._

_"Yeah. You too Naruto." Tsunade smiled sadly and began the trek back to her village._

_END FLASHBACK_

"I'll just call you Naomi." Naruto yawned.

"M-Me too." Hinata agreed.

"Good, so now that's settled, let's decide one what I should call you two." Naomi grinned evilly as she pointed at Naruto. "Naruto... Naruto-kun... Naru-kun... AHA! Naru-chan!"

She burst out into a fit of insane laughter at the brilliant nickname, and Hinata joined in with a quiet giggle of her own. Naruto on the other hand just glared straight at his teacher silently wishing that she would spontaneously combust. (A/N: randomly explode/go on fire. This can actually happen how awesome. XD)

"If you call me that, I'll-"

"You'll what, fight me?" Naomi challenged, still trying and failing to stop laughing. "Don't you remember how much I scared you earlier, ickle Naru-chan?"

"You didn't scare me! I just got caught off guard, that's all." Naruto pouted, looking away in denial.

"Suree." she winked.

"I-I'm sorry if I'm being too nosy, b-but where do you come from, Naomi? L-Like Naruto-kun said earlier, y-you don't have any s-signs of being from a ninja v-village, y-yet you proved you are a shinobi of sorts." Hinata stammered.

Naomi's smirk fell slightly at the mention of her home. She looked like she was remembering something, but the look quickly disappeared and was replaced by her usual happy grin she had been sporting for the day.

"Don't worry about being nosy, it's natural to be curious about someone you just met. The reason you don't see any signs of me being from a ninja village is because I don't come from a ninja village." She smirked when she saw the looks of confusion on the faces of her students. "I'm not really sure where I came from originally, but I do know that from my earliest memories until my early teens, I lived in the Land of Iron."

"Land of Iron? Isn't that where all those sword guys come from?" Naruto frowned. "What are they called again, samurai?"

"Yep!" Naomi cheerfully replied and turned back to the way she was walking, apparently ending their conversation. Naruto was having none of it though.

"Hey, why'd you stop so suddenly?" he asked. "You said you lived in Iron until your teens. Where did you end up after that, and how did you learn all of your ninja skills? Does Iron have shinobi too?"

She turned back towards him with a mischievous look in her eye. "Now that is for me to know, and you two to find out." She blinked and added as an afterthought. "Possibly."

Naruto growled, knowing that was the end of their short conversation. He couldn't help but have the feeling that her vague answers would cause them some trouble in the future.

"Ugh, whatever. Stop talking in riddles. My brain hurts." he moaned. "Anyway, where in the hell are we going? We've been walking for hours, and all we know is stuff about you, and nothing about our training, or where we're even staying!"

"Naru-chan, please." Naomi chuckled. "I was actually just about to tell you that we're nearly there. I didn't let you guys stop because I wanted to get home before it got dark."

"Home?" Both genin asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, home. We're going to my place, and that's where we'll be staying until we start our travels." she said. "My house is pretty big, and it has some huge-ass area of forest full of random clearings that I own around it as a back yard that's great for training and parties. Plus, it's got some genjutsu applied to it so nobody notices any fighting and other ninja stuff, they just see an ordinary house in the middle of the forest." Naruto lifted a blonde eyebrow when she said that. Yeah, because a house in the middle of the forest is sooo ordinary.

"W-What do you mean by t-travels, Naomi?" Hinata said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that! We're going to be staying here for a few months, maybe a year, until I think you two are good enough to do the kind of thing I'm usually doing. I swear I have ADHD or something, I can't stay in one place for too long, so I travel around all the time." She clapped her hands together and turned to face her companions with a friendly smile, continuing to walk backwards. "So, enough about me for now, let's learn some interesting things about you two!" Not that I don't know pretty much anything I need to from those files Grandma gave me, but they don't need to know that. Yet. Naomi mentally added, thinking of ways to use the information she had memorised as blackmail material in the future. "Naruto, you start by introducing yourself."

"Seriously? I already had to go through this with Kakashi-sensei last year!" Naomi gave him a flat glare, making him gulp audibly before deciding to quit his moaning. Annoying a Jonin-level kunoichi was even too stupid for Naruto to consider. "Uh, okay then. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I love ramen and playing pranks, and one day I'm going to be Hokage so everyone in the village will respect me!" He puffed out his chest in pride at his introduction.

"Hang on, hang on. You want to be Hokage just for the attention?" Naomi asked, getting a small growl of denial from the blonde of the group. "You do realise that it would be a lot of hard work to have a job like that. If your only reason to get the hat is recognition, stick with the pranks kid. You'll regret it one day if you don't. So, Little Miss Silent, what about you?"

Hinata blinked and shook her head to clear her mind. She had just witnessed a woman who they had only just met make Naruto completely re-evaluate his reasons for his life-long dream. She could tell by the look on his face that she had really given him something to think about.

"U-Um, well, I'm Hyuga Hinata, and I-I'm the heiress to my clan." She started twiddling her thumbs and blushed when she felt Naruto's gaze fall on her. "I-I came on this mission to get stronger s-so I can be a great c-clan leader and s-so my father won't be ashamed of me anymore."

"Heiress?" Naomi whistled in approval. "Wow. Wish I was heiress to my clan. That'd be so cool."

"You have a clan?" Naruto said.

"Uh, apparently, yeah." Naomi chuckled sheepishly. "Still, I wasn't finished quizzing Hinata." She looked back over at said timid girl. "Why would your father be ashamed of someone like you? You're pretty, smart, and good at making quick decisions. Sounds like a great heir to me."

Hinata looked down sadly. "I-I'm the weak one in my clan." she whispered.

"By the time you get back from training with me, your family won't know what's hit them." she lifted her gaze back up to her smiling sensei, who was still managing to walk backwards without tripping on something. "Do you have any likes or dislikes? Especially anything to do with food. I don't want to be making anything that you aren't going to eat, it pisses me off when people insult my cooking."

Both genin made a mental note to themselves not to moan about the food they were given. Something in her eyes when she said 'pisses me off' made them think that there would be serious consequences if they ever did so. Hinata spoke up. "W-Well, I like pressing flowers, and my favourite food is red bean soup, and I d-don't really like seafood."

"Oh man, don't get me started on seafood." Naomi groaned, clutching her stomach. "The only thing I hate more than food that comes from the water is fangirls. I've had bad experiences with both, and I don't want any more." When Naruto looked puzzled at the word 'fangirls', she rolled her eyes. "Fangirls? You know, the creepy perverts like Sakura and Ino who stalk Sasuke daily, screaming his name? If you ever end up with some when you're older, I wish you luck." She gave a pointed suggestive glance at Hinata, who eeped and stared at her feet with a red face

Naruto shuddered at the thought of having fangirls. He'd heard Sasuke moaning enough about them in the past, and he just couldn't imagine how he would cope.

Hinata jumped when she saw Naomi was stood right next to her with a suggestive grin on her face. "So, now we know what things you like, why don't you tell us who you like. I'm sure there's someone you've got an eye on."

Hinata squeaked and took a few quick steps away from the woman. "N-N-Nobody!"

"Alrighty then, I'll leave it for now, but only because you'll probably explode if you blush any more."

Hinata reached up and touched her cheeks. Sure enough, her face was burning. Naomi shoved her hands in her pockets and began to whistle nonchalantly to herself. Naruto and Hinata looked at her with matching 'are you actually insane' faces. Naruto backed away from her slowly and went over to Hinata.

"Hey Hinata?" he whispered, still not peeling his eyes off the woman's back.

"Y-Yes Naruto-kun?" she replied quietly.

"What do you think about Naomi?"

She thought for a moment, blushing when she noticed how close she and her crush were. "Umm, she seems v-very nice, b-but I th-think she's quite... interesting."

Naruto snorted. "That's one way to put it."

"I can hear you two, you know." said interesting woman called over her shoulder.

"Uh, oops?" Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"Nah, don't worry. Compared to some things I've been called, that's a compliment." came the reply. "Now the introductions are over, can we be quiet? I've got a crazy headache."

Obviously ignoring her request, Naruto looked puzzled. "Neh, why have you got a headache? We're not that noisy are we?"

Naomi chuckled. "Strangely enough, no, you aren't. It's just that me and a few of the Jonin had a girl's night out a few days ago, and my hangover still hasn't gone. Hell, I still feel kinda drunk to be honest. Me and sake do not mix."

_That explains so much, but yet so little._ The genin sweatdropped.

"I'm guessing you aren't finished with your questioning, am I right?" she said, turning round again.

"Well I've got a few more things to ask before I completely trust you." Naruto said.

"Until you trust me? Kid, you have no choice but to trust me. In case you hadn't noticed, it's just us, some animals, probably an ANBU patrol or two, and a giant forest for miles."

He huffed. "Whatever. You know what I mean. Anyway, what I wanted to ask was what kinda stuff are you gonna be teaching us? If you're good enough to be in Grandma's good books, you've gotta know a few cool jutsu. Plus it'd be a bit of a waste of time if we didn't learn anything in three years with you."

She laughed. "A few jutsu? Bitch please, I have so many jutsu under my belt it would make Orochimaru drool."

Naruto almost began to drool himself when he thought of all the different things he could learn. _Man, I'm gonna be so badass!_

"Y-You know Orochimaru?" Hinata said with a little fear.

"Not personally, but who hasn't heard of that snake pedophile?"

Naruto snorted. Anyone who hated the Snake Sannin as much as he did earned a few brownie points in his books.

"So Hinata, I see you're also dying to ask me a question." she said after a minute or so, making the girl jump slightly.

"U-Umm, yes." she said. "I-I just wanted to know i-if that's your n-natural hair colour."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot how different my hair was for a moment." She chuckled and twirled a lock of the turquoise hair around a finger, inspecting it for any split ends. "Yeah, it's my natural colour, but because it's so bright, I normally have a genjutsu up to hide it." She did a few seals and activated said genjutsu. Her hair was now a chocolate brown with a slight copper tint to it. "I only have my normal hair colour on display when I'm around people I trust, someone who can detect genjutsu and might get suspicious, when I don't mind being noticed, or when I'm just too lazy to set it up. An all day genjutsu is quite taxing on my chakra reserves, you know."

"Cool! I thought it was a dye or something, like Sakura-chan's!" Naruto grinned.

"S-Sakura-san's hair is naturally p-pink, Naruto-kun." Hinata giggled quietly at Naruto's face of shock when she said that.

"No way! Ino told me it was a dye!" he exclaimed.

"Isn't Ino your village gossip and Sakura's rival?" Naomi butted in.

Something looked like it clicked in Naruto's mind. "Damn it! I've believed it was fake for years! Stupid Ino..." He grumbled to himself.

"N-Naomi, how do you know s-so much about the people in our village?" Hinata asked.

Naomi froze and turned around sheepishly to face her students. "Uh, that's a funny story." She noticed the curious glare Naruto was sending her, so blurted out the end of her sentence. "Well I did a little research on all you genin in disguise before I knew who I'd be teaching so I knew what I'd be up against."

"Wait, does that mean you've been disguised as someone we know and asking us all questions?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at his teacher, causing her to gulp dramatically in guilt. "That explains why Sasuke was being actually normal to me yesterday, and asking me about Sakura! I thought he'd just finally realised he liked her, but I guess it was just you being a spy."

"Maybee..."

Naruto grew an anime vein. "That's so stupid! How did anyone fall for that lame trick!"

"Well you did, so I guess you must be pretty stupid to fall for 'that lame trick'." She punctuated the last part with finger quotes, smirking. "And my transformation jutsus are actually pretty good, if it makes you feel any better, Naru-chan."

"Don't mock me!" he yelled. Hinata and Naomi winced at his tone, Hinata from her close proximity to the loudmouth, and Naomi from her still-lingering headache.

The latter frowned and rubbed her temples in pain. "Ouch Naruto, I'm sorry, just please keep your voice down! I've already told you that my head is pounding, and we've almost crossed the border of Fire Country, so you don't really want any attention around these parts."

Sure enough, the trio could see a large expanse of desert up ahead, so they knew they were nearing Wind Country.

"I-Isn't your house in F-Fire Country, Naomi?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah it is, it's actually pretty close to here. I think it's about another 10 minute walk, then we have to do a little climbing." She glanced at her watch to check the time. "If I'm correct, we'll get to my place by around four-thirty, and it's five-past now."

"Climbing?" Naruto said. "Why would we have to climb if there's no mountains or anything?" He looked around himself as if to make sure he madn't missed one.

"Haven't I told you yet? My house is up here." She pointed up into the trees.

"That's not even possible! Houses aren't in trees, they'e on the ground." he said, hands on his hips.

"Mine isn't. Come on, let's start climbing now, I want to get home and relax a bit. You guys know how to climb trees, right?" She said. Naruto nodded his head, but Hinata looked slightly embarrassed and suddenly found her feet very interesting.

"Course we do, right Hinata?" he grinned.

"A-Actually, K-Kurenai-sensei w-was going to teach us that n-next week." she said ashamedly.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Naomi waved a hand like it was nothing. "I'll teach you at some point. It'll be kinda necessary if you're gonna be living in a forest for three years. For now, I'll just have to get Naru-chan over here to carry you up." She ended her sentence with a mishievous grin, looking expectantly over at said blonde. He was stood there looking awkwardly at the furiously blushing girl. She was shooting a look towards her sensei that said 'please don't make him do it, I think I'll dieof embarrasment'.

"Come on Hinata, it's no big deal! It won't even be for fifteen minutes if he keeps up with me." Naomi was still grinning evilly. Eventually she gestured to Naruto to just use force. He sighed and picked her up and threw her onto his back in a piggyback style.

"Eeek!" she squealed, intinctively wrapping her arms tight around his neck so she wouldn't fall off. He made a strangled sound that made her loosen her grip a bit. The blush she had been wearing all day almost tripled in intensity when she noticed that she was indirectly hugging him, and his hands were wrapped around her thighs to keep her attached to his person. Hinata had to use every scrap of willpower she had to not faint.

"There now, that wasn't too bad, was it?" Naomi laughed with her head tilted slightly to the side and a sickly sweet smile on her face.

"Shut up already! Let's just get climbing before it gets dark." Naruto grumbled, trying to hide his own slight blush. He'd never been that comfortable around physical contact that wasn't fighting, especially not with girls.

"Sure, sure. Let's start on this tree." Naomi shook her head as she laughed at the pair's misfortune. She shoved her hands back in her pockets and started up the tree, her waist-length hair flowing down behind her. Naruto followed her up, tightening his grip on the shaking girl on his back. If he held on to her any tighter, Hinata knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself from passing out.

The three continued up the tree in silence, Naruto and Hinata from awkwardness, and Naomi because she knew that if she opened her mouth, she wouldn't be able to contain her laughter. She knew that she would be having so much fun from terrorising the two genin for their stay with her. They crossed over to another tree about twenty feet up, then walked another ten feet up that tree, until Naomi came to a sudden stop. She performed a few quick seals, muttered something under her breath and slammed her palm into the tree. When she removed her hand, she was holding a small silver key.

"Why do you keep a key in a tree?" Naruto asked.

"Because it's more fun to get it out from that than my pouch." she grinned. Naruto sweatdropped. he thought there would be a better reason than that. "Now, look across there." She pointed in what seemed like a random direction, but Naruto and Hinata looked where she had indicated, and gaped in shock. Attached to the largest tree they could see was a large, wooden building, complete with windows and doors. It was cylinder shaped, and went another eighty feet up the tree. It looked like it had seven storeys, the bottom one being double the height of the rest. Four slightly smaller trees surrounded it in a diamond shape, each with their own smaller buildings attached. Each of those buildings were about the height of one of the normal floors of the main building. All of the wooden constructions had tiled rooves and were all connected by wooden rope bridges. Around the area these we built in, there were lots more trees, but like Naomi had previously mentioned, there were about seven large clearings between some of them. The owner of the place was grinning happily at the reactions of the children. Naruto had almost dropped Hinata in shock, and she had completely lost the blush from her face, pale eyes wide open. Both of them had their mouths hanging open, and were staring at the main building admiringly.

Naomi laughed, twirling the key in her hand. "You know, it's rude to stare."

Their heads swivelled round simultaneously to the speaker. " 'Pretty big'?" Naruto yelled. "This place is freaking huge!"

She laughed even harder. "I may have understated it a little bit." She jumped onto the nearest rope bridge and walked up to the main door, Naruto and Hinata trailing behind her, still gaping. She opened the door and stepped inside, gesturing for the pair to follow. "Welcome to your new home, kiddies."

* * *

><p><em>AN: __So that's the long-awaited next chapter. Not too brilliant, I have to admit, but at least it gives more of a depth to Naomi's character._

_The Otaku's Day out._

_It was eventful for three reasons:_

_1. It was really fun, and the faces I got off the people on the bus home for carrying some giant bag full of books that 'accidentally' hit them on the way past with were hilarious._

_2. I was mentally scarred multiple times. One example is when we saw a guy who looked like a failed Gai Maito cosplayer. He was wearing a silver spandex jumpsuit, and a black man-thong over it. Overall, he looked like some skinny sumo wrestler dipped in silver paint. I told another friend later on, and she was gutted because she wanted to yell something to do with youth at him. Man, that would've been funny._

_3. My mum made my day by bringing in some ribs at about 10pm. I squealed and dived on her in happiness. Don't judge me, I love those ribs. *drools*_

_Thought I'd say thanks for the reviews, and keep it up! I've gone over 1,600 hits now, and I'm proud of myself._

_Apparently this story is similar to a very popular NaruHina fanfic that I know. Actually, I agree. This was inspired by that story, so there will be similarities until the plot gets going. Hopefully it'll get more original by then._

_Next chapter due on 26/03/12, don't rage if it's late. :}_

_-Neko_


	6. Chapter Five: The Treehouse of Awesomene

_A/N: *sniff sniff*_

_Hmm, what's that smell? It smells like… burning…_

_Oh lookie, it's an anon flame! The joys of flaming. :D_

_Anyway, I'll leave my rant for later._

_Oh my Log, it's been FOREVER. Trust me, I feel **so** guilty. Hopefully this will never happen again, because it's annoyed the hell out of me not having any ideas/time for my stories. :(_

_Don't blame me for the crappiness and lateness that is this chapter, I'm getting over writers' block, I'm busy decorating the house, **and **I've been stupidly busy preparing for exams and other school shiz. So forgive me, my brilliant readers._

_Thanks for all your reviews and praise, it's the only thing keeping me from discontinuing this story at the moment, so keep it up! ^.^_

_Enjoy the chapter, anyone who isn't a flame :D_

* * *

><p>Naomi lifted bowed with a smirk and waved her hand towards the door. "I grant thee permission to enter The Treehouse of Awesomeness."<p>

Naruto raised his eyebrows at the name. "Treehouse of Awesomeness? Really? That's the best you got?"

"Yep!" Naomi grinned. "So, you gonna come in or not? I'd be more than happy to leave you two alone in the woods, but I get the feeling that you'd prefer it if I didn't."

The two still gaping genin slowly edged through the open doorway, Hinata still clinging to Naruto's back for dear life. Both of them were swiveling their heads around to get a better view of the massive wooden construction behind them when Naomi slammed the door shut and brushed her hands off on her black skirt, snapping them out of their daydreams.

"You going to stick to Naruto like that forever, or do you think you can get off him for a little while? It might give him a bit of a problem when he needs to shower or whatever."

Hinata squeaked for the umpteenth time that day and dropped from Naruto's back with a rush of blood to her face. Naomi snickered at the practically glowing blush of the girl.

"So, what do you think?" she asked, looking around the room they were currently in with her arms folded over her chest.

Passing through the middle of the room was presumably the trunk of the tree, but huge planks of wood had been set up from ceiling to floor around it, successfully hiding it from view. A few paintings and pictures were hung randomly on the planks, most of them depicting a grinning Naomi with different people, some of whom the children could vaguely recognise. They supposed they must have been quite well-known for them to be able to remember them, even slightly, but neither could put names to the faces. The walls of the room were painted a matte white, and the ring of wood in the centre was left unpainted. Straight ahead to their right and their left was two matching black sofas, both of them shaped to snugly fit the circular walls. They each had a small table next to them with a pile of random mangas and magazines stacked on top of each. A few spotlights were installed in the white ceiling, and there were a few potted plants on the windowsills. There wasn't really any other furniture, just a rail with hooks for hanging coats, bags, and other things on the wall next to the door, three windows, a handful of wooden shelves, and a huge rectangular tapestry with a pattern that looked strangely like a seal printed on it. However empty it seemed, it was still quite impressive for a treehouse.

"How did you find sofas that fit the walls so well?" Naruto asked with wide eyes.

Naomi performed the same hand seals she had for taking the key out of the tree and slammed her hands into the door, letting it re-absorb the key. "Random question, but I know a guy who's good with unique furniture. He takes requests and makes them cheap, so that's where those came from. Come on, this is just my version of the hallway. Let's get up to the main room, I need to sit down. Even us Jonin need to have a break sometimes." she chuckled.

She walked around the room, eventually coming to a stop in front of the opposite side of the wooden planks, revealing an opening about the size of an average doorway. Inside was a wooden spiral staircase, and she stepped up onto the steps and began the walk up, Naruto and Hinata traipsing behind her. A few seconds later, they came to another opening that lead to another room, and this one looked a lot more homely, and definitely wasn't minimalistic in decoration.

Naomi skipped over to a deep plum beanbag leaning against the wall and flopped into it. "Ooh, finally! I've missed my beanbags so much!" she groaned with a contented smile.

The Konoha ninjas cautiously followed her into the room. For some reason, it seemed larger than the hall room, even though from the outside, it looked exactly the same size. Yet again, the walls were painted white along with the ceiling, but the ring hiding the stairs was decorated with white wallpaper with sparse black and purple flower prints. There were some spotlights in the ceiling like the floor below, yet there was a tall lamp next to the beanbag Naomi was in, and a small indigo lamp on the windowsill on the other side of the room. There were three beanbags in the room in total; the one Naomi was sprawled on, a black one, and a navy blue one, along with another pair of black curved sofas. These sofas, however, had cushions in different shades of purple scattered on them. In front of Naomi's beanbag was a black wooden coffee table with a pile of scrolls and manga books dumped messily on top, and there were odd sheets of paper thrown around the room with various coloured pens and pencils. A sleek flatscreen TV hung on one of the planks encasing the stairs, and there was a stereo system on one of the windowsills with a large collection of DVDs and CDs stacked next to it.

"Grab a cushion or a beanbag and bring them over here guys, and I'll try and explain how life's gonna be while you're here, and I'll set a few house rules." Naomi said, gesturing to the cushions on the sofas.

Naruto dragged the black beanbag over and fell into it, while Hinata picked up a blue cushion and knelt on it in front of the table.

Naomi began her explanation. "Okay. First thing I'm gonna do is tell you the basic structure of these buildings. This is the main building, and in it is the bedrooms and bathrooms, this main room, and the hall room. My bedroom is the top floor, and you guys are only allowed in it when I'm in there of if I give you permission. If I'm in there, knock and wait for a reply before you enter. I'm pretty sure you don't want to accidentally walk in when I'm getting dressed or something." she snorted. "Now _that _would be awkward. If you knock, I'll do the same thing for you. I respect the privacy of any of my guests. Any questions?"

Naruto and Hinata both shook their heads.

"Good. There are four spare bedrooms, all the same size, and you can choose whichever one you please. You can decorate them how you want, and I honestly don't care how messy they get because mine must be the most untidy place in existence, but I'm warning you. Your room is _your_ responsibility, so _you_ will pay for any damages to the room or replacements for the things in it." she said. "If I were you, I'd choose the bedrooms higher up, since the view is _awesome _from up there, and it's warmer in the winter, heat rising and all. One of the buildings is a heated swimming pool, another is the dojo, the third is the kitchen and the dining room, and the last is the library. You can go to any of these at any time, but don't leave the complex unless I'm with you, or I give you permission. We'll start basic training tomorrow because it's too late to get anything worthwhile done, and I genuinely cannot be assed doing anything physical for at least 14 hours." she stood up and stretched her arms over her head, cracking her back. "For now, I'm going to take a nap. Feel free to explore the place and think about anything you might want to ask me. I'll be in my room if you need me, and by need me, I mean enemies attacking or someone died, but wake me up at about six so I can make dinner. I'll explain everything else over food. See ya."

And with that, Naomi disappeared with a handsign and a puff of smoke.

"Well that was weird." Naruto sweatdropped. He paused. "On second thoughts, that was weird for anyone who isn't Naomi."

Hinata giggled. "Sh-Should we go and l-look around then?"

"Sure. Where to first?" he replied.

"C-Can we go to the l-library?"

Naruto's smile dropped and was replaced with an extremely disappointed expression. "The library? Why? I hate books!"

"Oh, w-well we could j-just take our things to our r-rooms then. W-We don't have to go." Hinata said dejectedly, directing her pearly eyes down to her feet.

Naruto sighed in defeat. "Ah whatever, there's nothing better to do anyway. Let's just be quick then."

Hinata smiled up at Naruto. "Thank you, N-Naruto-kun!"

"No problem, let's go before I change my mind." he replied, starting down the stairs at a fast pace.

Hinata followed quickly behind him, and it wasn't long before they both reached the room they first came across. Naruto opened the door and was about to head out when Hinata stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Wait! Th-There's a note here." she said, gently pulling him back in.

_Hey Midgets,_

_Here's a set of house keys for you each so you don't get locked out. I'm trusting you here. If you lose them, then you're in big trouble. You know how overprotective I am of mine (I keep them in a goddamn tree, for Kami's sake), so I hope you're careful too. _

_The keys go in size order; the biggest opens the door to this building, the second opens the library, the third opens the dojo, and the last opens the pool. The kitchen doesn't have a key since it hasn't really got anything valuable in it, so I leave it unlocked. _

_Except marshmallow fluff. _

_Whatever, I'll explain that later. For now, enjoy my house_. _:)_

_-Naomi_

Next to her name was a small stick figure in the vague shape of a winking Naomi.

"Marshmallow fluff?" Naruto asked once he had finished reading the note. He squinted at the chibi. "And what kind of drawing is_ that?_"

Hinata shrugged her slim shoulders slightly. "L-Let's ask her later, N-Naruto-kun. D-Do you mind if we still go to the library?"

"Nah. Come on." Naruto grabbed Hinata's wrist and dragged her along the rickety bridge, earning yet another squeak from the heiress.

Along the way to the library, the pair observed their surroundings. From the air, the forest was breathtakingly beautiful. Surrounding them was the sounds of life itself; birds singing, leaves rustling, trees creaking gently in the wind. Through the gaps in the treetops they could see the clear blue sky with the odd fluffy cloud floating past every now and then. The forest floor was hidden by the foliage, and by the time they'd taken everything in, they had arrived at their destination.

The front door had a metal plaque attached to it, with the word 'Library' engraved neatly into it in Naomi's rounded handwriting, next to an engraving of a stylised version of the kanji for 'book'.

"Looks like this is the right place." Naruto said, pulling out his keys, and searching for the right one. "Which key did she... Crap!"

The keys slipped from Naruto's grasp and fell to the floor of the wooden platform they stood on with a loud clatter. He bent over to pick it up, and Hinata, due to her automatic politeness drilled into her since she could walk, reached out for them at the same time. Their hands briefly met, and in the split-second of contact between them, Hinata's skin felt like it was on fire. They both jerked away quickly like they'd been struck by lightning, and a blush coloured both of their cheeks, Hinata's obviously more prominent.

Hinata shot up and stepped away, bowing her head and clasping her hands behind her back. "I-I'm so s-sorry Naruto-kun! I-I didn't mean it!"

Naruto snapped out of the daze he was in and looked up at her with his usual happy grin plastered on his face, but even that couldn't hide the awkwardness underneath. "Ah, don't worry about it. You were just being polite."

He picked the keys back up and slid one into the lock on the door. A blast of warm air came through the open door, and both genin peeked inside. Naruto's mouth dropped open, and Hinata gasped.

"Wow." They simultaneously said.

On the outside, the building was quite small, and with the tree trunk running through the middle, you'd think it was tiny. In reality, the library was huge - for a treehouse anyway. It had one floor about the size of a large garden, and it was full of bookcases and shelves from ceiling to floor, each one stacked with books, manga and scrolls of all shapes and sizes. Each wooden case was engraved with a different category, so even though they were piled seemingly randomly, the contents of the library were obviously somewhat organised.

"I wonder how she got it to be bigger on the inside..." Naruto said thoughtfully. "If it's a jutsu, she'd better teach us it, because this would be so _awesome_!"

Unfortunately, his thoughts were voiced to thin air, because Hinata had already began looking through the shelves. Some seemed to interest her, but eventually she gave up, walking back to an impatient Naruto with a single book in her arms and a massive blush on her face.

Naruto tried to peek at the cover of the small book, but the title was hidden by one of the sleeves of her oversized hoodie.

"What's that?" he asked curiously.

Hinata gripped the book tighter to her torso and looked down at her feet. "...A-A m-manga."

Naruto grinned. "Really? What one? Do I know it?"

"P-Probably n-not," Hinata said. She quickly decided to change the subject. "Sh-Shouldn't we be g-getting back s-soon anyway?"

Naruto, with an attention span the length of a five-year-old's, took the bait and nodded. "Yeah, I'm getting hungry, so let's go!"

They took off back towards the main building, Hinata hurriedly tucking her book inside her coat pocket as she ran. Naruto fiddled with the set of keys again as he got to the front door, quickly unlocking it when he found the right one. The genin padded up the stairs, passing a few wooden doors on each level, until they reached the top level, with another wooden door painted a bright purple, with a black swirl pattern on the doorframe. Hinata gently knocked, and a few seconds later, Naomi pulled open the door in a pair of loose black shorts and a navy t-shirt with her still brown hair tied up in a loose ponytail, rubbing her eyes.

"Six already?" she yawned. "Aw, I was enjoying that dream too."

She turned the pair in front of her around by their shoulders and pushed them gently forward, indicating that they were going first. "Forward to the kitchen, my Leaf minions."

"Naomi?" Naruto began, Naomi grunting sleepily in return. "What are we having for dinner?"

She scratched her head. "Eh, well I haven't got that much in at the minute, so for tonight, we'll have to have some instant ramen."

Naruto whooped. "Yes!"

Naomi looked at Hinata. "I guess he's a ramen fan, huh?"

Hinata nodded vigorously.

Soon they crossed over to the kitchen building, and Naomi shuffled forward to a cupboard, pulling out a few cups of ramen and setting them on the counter, after asking Hinata to get the water boiling. She turned around as she waited, leaning on the counter with her hands holding onto the edge as she surveyed the genin with tired eyes. "So, while I was sleeping, did you two think of anything to ask?"

Naruto nodded. "What's with the library? It's bigger on the inside."

Naomi smirked. "Ah, that's the Interior Expansion Jutsu. I made it up when I was younger and pissed off that I couldn't fit all of my clothes in my closet, so made it bigger inside."

Naruto grinned and hopped around in his seat a little. "Cool! Can you teach us it?"

"Eventually, but Hinata will probably be the only one able to do it properly," Naomi raised her hand to silence Naruto's protests. "That's because it's a weird combination of genjutsu and ninjutsu, so needs great chakra control to perform, and you're shitty with genjutsu, right? Hinata, you got anything you want to ask?"

Hinata raised her hand. "I-I was just wondering, why d-do you still have your h-hair g-genjutsu up?"

Naomi blinked like she hadn't even noticed that she didn't have blue hair. "Oh yeah, forgot about that for a second. Basically, it still scares the crap out of me whenever I wake up and look in a mirror to see bright turquoise hair, so I keep it up whenever I take a nap. Pretty scary shit when you're half asleep, honestly. Anything else?"

"Yeah," Naruto said. "What's marshmallow fluff?"

A glint entered her eyes, and she turned around to pull a jar of white goo (_A/N: Can't think of a better word for it, go google 'Marshmallow Fluff' or something if you want to understand what I mean_) and showed it to the pair in front of her. "This."

Naruto sweatdropped. "That? You call a tub of white crap like that valuable?"

Suddenly a spoon was in his mouth, and when he pulled it out angrily, he noticed the remnants of a sticky white substance on it (_A/N: Heh... You guys take that sentence any way you like, if you get me ;D), _and realised that Naomi had shoved a spoonful of fluff into his mouth.

"White crap, huh?" she said.

Naruto closed his eyes as he ate the spread with a blissful smile. "Forget I ever said that, this is _amazing._"

Naomi nodded victoriously as she began pouring the water into the ramen. "I know. And I can only buy it in the Land of Grass, so that's why it's valuable. Quite rare stuff, surprisingly."

He swallowed then turned to Hinata with a grin. "Hey Hinata, wanna try some? It's _really _good!"

"O-Okay," she answered quietly.

The Hyuuga opened her mouth to ask Naomi for her own spoon, when Naruto shoved his between her parted lips instead. Her face erupted in a furious blush, and her eyes widened comically before rolling back into her head as she fell backwards in a faint.

Thanks to ninja reflexes, Naruto caught her just before she hit the floor, and Naomi face-palmed.

"Naruto, you absolute _dumbass,_" she sighed. "Give her here, I'll carry her up to her room, and you can go pick yours."

He gently passed Hinata's unconscious form over to Naomi, but then pouted at the older ninja. "But we didn't get to have the ramen!"

"Just pick them up and take it back to the main room to eat there," she said. "Hurry up, she isn't as light as she seems you know, muscle weighs more than fat."

Naruto grabbed the cups and a few pairs of chopsticks before following Naomi out the open door and closing it behind him. "Neh, Naomi? Why did Hinata faint again?"

_Wow, the kid is as dumb as he looks... _"She's probably just tired from travelling or something," Naomi said over her shoulder. Naruto 'ah'ed and nodded to himself, while she rolled her eyes at his gullibility. "I'll take her up to her room, and you just eat your ramen and then head to bed or something. You're up early tomorrow so I can get started on your training."

"We're starting the training tomorrow?" Naruto asked giddily. "Aww man, this is going to be so cool! Are you gonna teach us jutsu? Or are you going to be a lazy bastard like Pervy Sage and just leave us with instructions and equipment?"

"No jutsu yet, but no instructions and neglect either," she replied, opening the front door and heading up the stairs. "Learning jutsu might be a while in the future because you need to learn all of the basics first, and I need to know you better to find suitable things to teach. But it'll be worth the wait, trust me."

Naruto groaned. "Ugh! I was getting excited then too!"

As they passed the door to the main room, Naomi looked back over her shoulder. "Aren't you going to eat in there?"

Naruto looked down at his ramen cups. "Nah, I think I'll eat in my room."

Naomi shrugged. "Alright, whatever floats your boat. Do you want the room below mine or the one underneath that?"

"Hinata can have the highest one," he said. "She'd appreciate it more than me."

"Here's your stop then."

They stopped outside a plain wooden door, and Naruto opened it to reveal a bare room, with only a wardrobe, bed, side table and a window on one of the walls.

"How come there's hardly anything in here?" Naruto asked.

"Well I thought I'd leave it like this so you can eventually make it your own," Naomi replied. "Treat it like a blank canvas, do what you want with it. We'll be going to lots of different places while you stay, so when you pick things up there, you can bring them back and put them in here to remind you of what you did and where you went."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Okay, well here's you ramen, before you go."

Naomi performed a single handsign and a clone popped into existence beside her, and took the ramen from him with a grin, since the original's hands were full of Hinata. "Thanks."

Naruto gaped at their disappearing backs. "How- How did you do that? You need to teach me that!"

Naomi cackled from up the stairs. "Now that is for me to know, and you to find out in about three months. Night-night, Naru-chan!"

Naruto slammed the door shut and seethed silently to himself, before heading over to his bed and violently inhaling his ramen. _Damn kunoichis..._

* * *

><p>As Naomi gently lay Hinata down on her bed, she felt something hard and rectangular in the girl's pocket, and from curiosity, pulled it out. <em>A book? <em>

After reading the title, she broke out into a wide, knowing smile, trying to contain her laughter by covering her mouth with a hand. She replaced the manga, and turned out of the room, switching the light off as she did so. "Nice choice, Hinata. I might get to like having you around."

Lying innocently in the blue-haired heiress' pocket, was a heavily battered and dog-eared copy of the first volume of _You Are My Love Prize In Viewfinder._

_Fellow yaoi fangirls are always welcome in the Treehouse of Awesomeness, dear Hinata-chan. Kukuku..._

* * *

><p><em>AN: TA DAH! Finally finished, phew._

_Okay, rant time. You may skip to the bold part if you really couldn't care less about my reply to the flame, and my reasons for hating anon flames. _

_So, Mr Anon, aka Jasper, here's your reply. For one, it is not a copy. Do you see any part in this which I have literally copied from Wren's story? Sure, the basic plotline is similar, but the way I've planned it out, it will completely change somewhere near the middle-end, thus, the sequel will be completely different too. Let's just say the sequel is going to be as humour-based as this story is. _

_Personally, I agree with your opinions on my OC. Sora is a top class OC, and I couldn't even hope to have a character as well-written as her, but I try my best to get as close to that standard as I can. She's nineteen, and she's supposed to be like that at this point in the story. She is immature, and seems to think that she's younger than she actually is, and there's a reason for that which I'm not going to say just yet. Probably in like, 10 chapter's time or something, I dunno. I don't think it's a spotlight thing really, there will be less focus on her soon, it's just that I need to get some background on her, and as soon as they begin training, it'll be all badassery from our little Konoha people, and lotsa fluff! :D_

_Thanks for the sort-of compliment there. You seemed reluctant to even type that to be honest. In case you'd forgotten, in the original series, Naruto was the definition of 'big fat idiot', as you put it. He matures in the timeskip, which if you haven't noticed, is what this fic is about. So gradually, he will grow up a little.I put emphasis on GRADUALLY.  
><em>

_About the 'poorly written' comment. I'd like you to take into consideration that I'm only 13 years old, so obviously my writing isn't going to be up to the standard of those like J R LeDoux or DameWren. I've not even started my GCSE's for God's sake! Also, if you don't like, don't read. You were one of the many causes of my writer's block, just thought I'd let you know, but yes, I appreciate your opinion. _

_Thanks for saying 'good luck' though, that totally makes the message just that much better. (Sarcasm, you asshole.)_

_I personally hate anon flames because author's like this happen from them. I can't reply via inbox, so I have to piss off the other readers by doing this. So yeah, from the other readers, thank you very much for being an inconsiderate ass. :)  
><em>

**_Right, rant over. As a future warning, no anon flames please. Normal flames aren't welcome, but are acceptable. Everyone's opinion matters to me. :3_**

**_Crap, 600+ word author's? Oops. Got carried away in rant mode. :/_**

**_Last thing now. I have exams coming up in a few weeks, so yet again, it'll be a while for an update, revision and all. To the Paws readers, chapter 7 will be up soon, about 3/4 done, I think. _**

**_Sorry again, and the fortnightly update schedule is being scrapped for the foreseeable future. :'(_**

**_I'm such a crappy authoress. :(_**

**_Bye!_**

**_~Neko  
><em>**


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